SPECIALIST clinics are being set up in Oxfordshire to help people suffering from long Covid.

Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trusts are among more than 60 sites that will run an assessment service which will take referrals from GPs.

Opening next month, it will help people experiencing symptoms such as brain fog, anxiety, depression, breathlessness and fatigue months after having coronavirus.

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The service brings together doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to offer both physical and psychological assessments and refer patients to the right treatment and rehabilitation services.

It comes after new research from the Office for National Statistics showed that one in five people with coronavirus develop longer-term symptoms.

It said around 186,000 people in England were living with Covid-19 symptoms which lasted for between five and 12 weeks.

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OUH and Oxford Health will be working as part of the same team, with an OUH clinician and Oxford Health therapist jointly triaging all referrals.

Respiratory consultant Emily Fraser, who heads the long Covid service for OUH, said: "By working together, we can work out who will need clinic or community input or both.

"Patients may then move between Oxford Health and OUH services after assessments or if their needs change."